Once the team of 6 nervous adults finished positioning the carts in front of the Great Oriyan, 5 of them quickly fled, unwilling to remain close to the giant beast.
Unlike the youths from earlier, these adults weren't as familiar with Lucas and didn't have nearly as much faith in his words and reassurances. They might have appreciated the boy for the good he had done for the town, but they didn't completely trust him when it came to matters of life-and-death.
Helen, much to her chagrin, didn't have much choice but to remain, as Lucas signaled for her to wait a moment.
*Chirp chirp?*
"En, go ahead. It's all yours," Farah replied to the big bird's question, immediately resulting in it hopping over and digging in, pecking at the carts with such force that they creaked under the impact.
Clearly, this Great Oriyan was famished, as even after it consumed several large sacks of grain, its appetite had not been soothed in the slightest.
Lucas watched in amazement as the majestic Spirit Beast gorged itself on the cart of fruit, polishing off almost all 150 kg of the berries, apples, and pears in less than a minute. He even began to wonder if the 450 kg of food he had asked to be brought out would be enough.
Fortunately, when the Great Oriyan moved on to the next cart, it slowed down considerably, taking its time as it pecked at the vegetables.
Seeing the meal he had arranged going smoothly, Lucas turned back and asked, "Aunty Helen, how much sugar is left in the Manor?"
"Huh?" Helen, who was still somewhat fixated on the scene before her, could only mutter a dull reply when she was spoken to, probably not even hearing what Lucas' question was.
Smiling wryly, Lucas repeated himself, "How much sugar is left?"
"Oh, uh…" Helen muttered, her brain taking a moment to engage, "I think we still have 4 or 5 kg left in the pantry. Why?"
Instead of answering directly, Lucas turned to Farah and asked, "Senior, you said this big guy is a Low Sixth Order beast, yes?"
"En," Farah nodded.
"Then normally, he wouldn't be eating ordinary grains and produce, right?" Lucas followed up.
Thinking about it for a moment, Farah replied, "There's no reason a beast of this strength wouldn't eat simple First Order plants or Tier 1 foods, just like how I normally eat Tier 1 foods because that's what's regularly available in Redwood Town."
"However," Farah continued, "When one's cultivation is higher, they need to eat more low-Order or Tier foods to properly sustain themselves. That's why, whenever possible, True Cultivators and powerful beasts prefer eating food that's of a higher Tier."
"Oh," Lucas mulled this new information over in his head. He had thought that in order to fuel themselves, more powerful beings needed to consume higher level foods, but it seemed that they could make up for quality with quantity if necessary.
It wasn't quite what he expected, but it wasn't illogical, so Lucas quickly made a mental note of this.
"You thought feeding this fellow your sugar would make him happier than just regular grain and produce?" Farah, who by now had figured out what Lucas' plan was, asked directly.
"That was my original idea," Lucas confirmed, "But if it's not going to make a difference, then I guess there's no need for that."
After selling the bulk of the sugar he produced to the Rising Sun Merchant Guild, Lucas was left with just 30 kg of the sweet crystals. He had kept 10 kg for himself, given 10 to his Aunt Sasha, and the rest to the various workers who had been helping him process the lych tree sap into sugar.
5 months later, Lucas had already gone through a bit more than half of his supply of sugar, while it seemed Sasha had also used up a similar proportion of hers. Sugar was a rare and delicious ingredient that made so many things taste better, so if there was no point in giving it away, Lucas was very reluctant to do so.
This was especially true for the Great Oriyan chowing down on grain in front of Lucas right now. Obviously, a couple spoonfuls of sugar weren't going to satisfy him.
"Actually, I think it's a good idea," Farah thought otherwise, explaining, "See how this fellow went straight for the fruit and quickly devoured all of it before moving on? Obviously, he prefers sweet things to other staple foods. If you feed him your sugar, he will surely be very grateful, not just because it's sweet, but also because it contains significantly denser World Qi."
Pursing his lips, Lucas still hesitated, seemingly weighing his options before whispering, "Would he be thankful enough to do us a favour?"
"If it's a small favour, it shouldn't be a problem," grinning at the boy's reluctance to let go of his sugar, Farah added, "Look at it this way. You're essentially hiring a Spirit Adept level master for half a barrel of sugar. I don't know if you'll ever strike a more lopsided deal in your life."
Lucas thought about it, and realized Farah was right.
According to what he had been told by the latter, there were only 26 Spirit Adepts in the entire Rockwell Kingdom, each one of them possessing exalted status and wielding unparalleled authority. Even the current king would have to take the words of these Spirit Adepts seriously when making decisions.
In order to move one of these Spirit Adepts, even if it was just to have them voice their support for him in some vague way, Lucas figured he would have to pay tens of thousands of Spirit Crystals at least, if they could be bought with money at all.
It was actually much more likely that some kind of rare treasure or strategic interests would be required to buy off a Spirit Adept.
Thinking about it like this, using 5 kg of his sugar, worth about 70 Gold on the market, to have a Sixth Order Beast do a favour for him really was an astonishingly profitable trade.
Reaching such a conclusion, Lucas turned to Helen to make the request, but before he could say anything, the clever woman waved her hand lightly and ran off towards the Manor's kitchen.
Whether Helen was happy to be of help, or just happy to have an excuse to get further away from the giant bird, Lucas would never know.
Not long after, Grace and another group of volunteers wheeled over a large, flatbed cart. Inside this cart was a rowboat, one big enough to fit 5 people, filled to the brim with water.
There was no wide-brimmed basin big enough to hold all 500 litres of water Lucas had requested in the Town Lord's Manor, so Grace had cleverly found this boat, which was naturally watertight, and used it instead.
The reason it had taken so long for Grace to return was because fetching this much water from the wells around the Manor wasn't easy. In fact, if not for the new handpumps Lucas had designed and had installed, it probably would have taken 2 or 3 times longer to gather this much fresh water.
Just like Helen's team, Grace's was scared to approach the Great Oriyan, but they still had it a bit easier as the giant bird was currently distracted with its meal and wasn't eying them hungrily. As such, the team of 5 wheeled the cart up, then with Farah's help unloaded the boat and set it down nearby before scampering away.
It took a minute before the Great Oriyan noticed the new 'dish' it was served, but when he did, he shuffled over and began lapping up the water with his giant tongue.
By the time Helen returned with a small barrel in her arms, the Great Oriyan had basically finished off all the food and most of the water he was given, making Lucas wonder how he should feed him the sugar.
Once Lucas opened the lid to the barrel, however, the giant bird instantly locked its eyes onto him and chirped loudly.
Looking at the glowing eyes of the Spirit Beast, which were clearly fixed onto the small barrel of sugar, Lucas burst out laughing before calling out, "Yes! For you!"
He then simply set the barrel down and watched as the Great Oriyan snatched it up with his beak and crunched on it, spilling all the sugar into his mouth. The big bird spat out the broken bits of wood a few seconds later before releasing an unintelligible series of chirps.
Lucas wasn't sure if the big fellow was trying to say something, or was just celebrating, but there was no mistaking the joy he was sensing from it.
Taking advantage of the situation, Farah called out, "Since you're full now, maybe you should take a nap?"
*Chirp chirp?*
"Of course it's alright," Farah said with a smile, "We've shared a meal now, so that makes us friends. Friends help friends."
*Chirp!*
"Wonderful!" Farah beamed, "I'll lead you to a nice, quiet spot."
Saying so, she dashed off towards the western part of town where there was a large stable with plenty of straw and grass that the Great Oriyan could use as a temporary bed.
The giant Spirit Beast's presence would likely traumatize some of the horses which were being kept there, but Farah didn't care about that right now. Every second the Great Oriyan remained in the western quarter of Redwood Town was another second the town would be safe from beast attacks.